Brake system



C. E. TACK BRAKE SYSTEM De.c. 3, 1957 Filed Nov. 13, 195s 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 c. E. TAczKl BRAKE sys-TEM Dec. 3, 1957' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 13, 1953 United States BRAKE SYSTEM Carl E. Tack, Chicago, Ill., assigner to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, lill., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 13, 1953, Serial No. 391,854

15 Claims. (Cl. 18S-59) The invention relates to rotor brakes and more particularly to a novel manual or hand brake actuating mechanism therefor.

lt is a general object of the invention to provide a simple, positive acting, manual hand brake actuating mechanism for a railway car truck.

It is a more particular object of the invention to utilize the reactive force of one brake shoe engaging the rotor to bring the other shoe into rotor engagement.

It is a further specic object of the invention to provide said actuating linkage wherein one shoe is moved arcuately into engagement with the rotor and another shoe is moved linearly into engagement with the rotor,

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description and from an examination of the associated drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary plan view of one quarter of a railway car truck embodying the invention, the cover plate of the brake mechanism being removed,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the structure shown in Figure l, and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the structure Shown in Figure 2.

Describing the invention in detail, the railway car truck comprises a wheel and axle assembly indicated generally at 2, said assembly supporting in the conventional manner (not shown) a frame indicated generally at 4. The frame 4 comprises a side rail 6 and a transverse member 3 arranged to approximately parallel the axis of rotation of the wheel and axle assembly 2. A rotor having opposed parallel friction surfaces 12, 12 is txedly secured to the assembly 2 and rotatable therewith. The transverse member 8 is provided with integrally formed brackets 14 in an area approximately longitudinally aligned with the rotor 1l).

A brake mechanism indicated generally at 16 is mounted on the transverse member 8 via the brackets 14, the

mounting consisting of spaced plates 18, 13 and wings 20,

20 at opposite sides of the mechanism 16. It will be noted that the wings 2t) loosely receive the associated brackets 14 of the transom 3 and the spaced plates 18 loosely embrace the central bracket 14 of the transom 8 and that springs 22, 22 are interposed between the central bracket 14 and the spaced plates 18, whereby a oating resilient connection is provided between the mechanism 16 and the frame 4. It should also be noted that said floating connection accommodates horizontal movement of the mechanism 16 in a direction approximately parallel to the transverse member 8 and the axis ofthe wheel and axle assembly 2.

The brake mechanism 16 additionally comprises a pocketed housing 26, said housing having an actuating air ,cylinder 23 positioned therein. cylinder 2.8 a mounting plate or bracket 30 is pivotally connected to the housing 26 on an axis 32 extending longitudinally of the truck. A pair of brake levers 34, 34 extend approximately longitudinally of the truck and Forwardly of the air ice are pivoted intermediate their ends to the mounting member 30 as at 36, 36. It will be noted that the axes of pivot 36 are substantially vertical and disposed on opposite sides of the axis of pivot 32 of the mounting member 30. The brake levers 34, 34 comprise relatively long arms 38, 3S and relatively short arms 40, 40, said long and short arms extending in opposite directions from the axes of pivot 36. Brake shoe assemblies 42, 42 are pivotally carried from adjacent ends of the short arms 40 and are positioned to embrace the rotor 10 and are engageable with the associated faces 12, 12 thereof.

A manual or hand brake actuating arm 44 is positioned to extend from the inboard side of the housing 26, said actuating lever 44 being pivotally mounted to the member 3i) on the left-hand vertical axis 36 as seen in Figure 1. The actuating lever 44 extends inboardly of the housing 26 and presents a lug 4S arranged to engage the long arm 3S of the left-hand brake lever 34 at a point spaced from the axis of pivot 36 of said brake lever. Inboardly of the truck the actuating lever 44 is connected to conventional linkage indicated generally at 5t) which in turn is connected to appropriate hand brake actuating linkage (not shown) as will be well understood by those skilled in the art. It should be noted that another actuating lever 45 is also connected to the hand brake linkage 50, said other actuating lever 45 being associated with an identical braking mechanism in an adjacent quadrant of the truck.

The mounting member 30 is provided with an abutment 52, said abutment 52 being engageable with the right-hand brake lever 34 at a point spacedfrom the related axis of pivot 36 of said right-hand brake lever as seen in Figure l. It will also be noted that the lug 48 and the abutment 52 engage their related brake levers 34 at approximately equal distances from the associated axes of pivot 36 of said brake levers, thus the lever arms of the forces distributed to said brake levers under the action hereinafter described are approximately equal.

A vertical adjusting mechanism 56 (Figure 3) is provided interconnecting the frame and the brake mechanism 16, said vertical adjusting mechanism providing convenient means to properly position the brake shoe assemblies 42 on the related rotor. Additionally, a brake shoe guiding device 58 pivotally interconnects the housing 26 and the associated brake shoes to maintain parallelism between the brake shoe assemblies 42 and the opposed faces 12, 12 of the rotor during all pivotal movements of the brake levers 34.

In operation of the brake arrangement the brake shoe assemblies 42 may be alternately urged to engage the friction disk 10 by either the actuating cylinder 28 or the hand braking linkage 50. Upon operation of the actuating cylinder 28 the long arms 38 of the brake levers 34 are engaged by pistons which move from opposite sides of said cylinder 28. The engagement of the pistons with the long arms 38 of the brake levers 34 causes said brake levers to pivot in opposite directions about their respective axes of pivot 36, whereby the carried brake shoe assemblies 42 are urged to engage the opposed faces 12 of the rotor 10. Upon deactuation of the cylinder 28 a spring 60, which interconnects the long arms 38 of the brake levers 34, urges said brake levers to pivot in reverse direction about their respective axes of pivot 36, whereby the brake shoe assemblies 42 disengage the rotor 10.

To manually operate the brake arrangement, the hand brake linkage 50 is moved longitudinally of the truck causing the actuating lever 44 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about its axis of pivot 36, whereby the lug 48 of said actuating lever engages the left-hand brake lever 34 pivoting same about its axis of pivot 36. Counterclockwise movement of the left-hand brake lever 3 4 brings the left-hand brake shoe assembly 42 into engagement with the associated face 12 of the rotor 10. Continued movement of the actuating lever 44 and the reaction set up by the engagement of the left brake shoe assembly 4Z with the rotor causes the left-hand lever 34 to pivot about the axis 4l at the connection between said brake lever and the related brake shoe assembly 42. Pivotal movement of said brake lever about the axis 4l urges the entire brake housing 26 to the left, as seen in Figure l, compressing the right-hand spring 22 of the connection between the brake mechanism i6 and the transom 8. Leftward movement of the brake housing 26 brings the right-hand brake lever 34 and carried shoe assembly 42 linearly into engagement with the associated face l2 of the rotor lil. It will be noted that engagement between the right-hand brake lever 34 and abutment 52. of the mounting member 3@ limits counterclockwise pivotal movement of the right-hand brake lever 34 about its axis of pivot 36, whereby the leftward movement of the brake housing 26 brings the right-hand brake shoe assembly firmly into pressured engagement with the related face of the rotor lll. Upon release of the hand brake linkage t? the compressed right-hand spring 22 urges the brake housing 26 to the right to a central position carrying the right-hand brake shoe assembly 42 out of engagement with the rotor It? while the spring 60 interconnecting the brake levers pivotally moves the lefthand brake lever 34 out of engagement with the rotor 10.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a novel, simple, positive acting hand brake actuating mechanism and utilizes the reactive forces set up by the engagement of one shoe with the rotor to bring the other shoe into engagement with the rotor.

I claim:

l. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a wheel and axle assembly, a frame supported thereby, a friction disk on the assembly and rotatable therewith, a brake housing, a floating connection between the housing and the frame accommodating relative horizontal movement therebetween, a pair of brake levers carried by the housing for pivotal movement about vertical axes, said levers comprising short arms and long arms extending oppositely from the axes of pivot, brake shoe assemblies carried on the ends of the short arms embracing and engageable with opposite sides of the disk, a power cylinder disposed internally of the housing operatively engageable with the long arms whereby the brake levers are actuated, a manual actuating lever extending from one side of the housing and pivoted thereto on one of said axes of pivot, said manual actuating lever having a lug portion extending internally of the housing and en-,

gaging one of said long arms at a point spaced from the axis of pivot of the related brake lever, and an abutment carried by the housing engaging the other long arm.

2. A brake arrangement for a railway car truck according to claim l, wherein said lug and said abutment engage the respective long arms approximately equal distances from the axes of pivot of the related brake levers.

3. In a rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck comprising a wheel and axle assembly with a friction disk thereon and a frame supported by the assembly; the combination of brake shoe assemblies engageable with the disk, brake levers carrying the shoe assemblies, a member carried by the frame for horizontal movement parallel to lSaid frame, a floating connection between the member and the frame, said brake levers being pivotally carried by the member, means to actuate said brake levers comprising an actuating lever fulcrumed to the member and directly abutting one of said brake levers to apply an actuating pressure thereto, lug means on said member engageable with the other brake lever whereby actuating pressure is transmitted by the member from said one brake lever to the other brake lever.

4. A rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck according to claim 3, wherein said actuating pressure is transmitted to the other brake lever through the housing by means of an abutment on the housing engageable with the other brake lever.

5. In a rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck comprising a rotatable friction disk and a pair of shoe carrying brake levers embracing the disk, said shoes being disposed at adjacent ends of said brake levers and being arranged to engage opposite plane faces of the disk upon actuation of the levers; the combination of a floating member horizontally movable relative to the disk, pivotal connections between the brake levers and member intermediate the ends of said brake levers, an actuating cylinder disposed between said brake levers and engageable with the ends opposite the mentioned ends of said levers, said cylinder being movable with the member, an actuating lever movably carried by the member, said actuating lever being engageable with one of said brake levers to pivot same and bring the carried shoe into engagement with one of said faces and to move said member to bring the other lever carried shoe into engagement with the other of said faces.

6. A railway brake arrangement for a railway car truck according to claim 5, and including an abutment on the member engageable with said other lever to limit pivotal movement thereof.

7. In a brake arrangement for a vehicle having a wheel and axle assembly and a frame supported thereby; rotatable friction surfaces on said assembly, a friction shoe engageable with one of said surfaces, a brake support connected to the frame, a brake pivoted to the support for pivotal movement in one direction to apply said shoe to said one surface, power means for so moving the brake lever, said support having abutment means for limiting pivotal movement of said lever in the opposite direction, and other power means for moving the support horizontally to urge said shoe against said one surface.

8. In a brake arrangement for a vehicle supported by a wheel and axle assembly having oppositely facing rotatable brake faces; the combination of a brake support resiliently mounted on said vehicle for movement generally parallel to the rotational axis of said assembly, resilient means connecting said support to said vehicle to permit said parallel movement of said support to the axis, and brake means carried by said support, said brake means comprising a pair of brake levers pivoted intermediate their ends to the support on axes fixed with respect to each other, friction means carried by the levers for actuation thereby to engage said faces, and lever means pivoted to said support and connected to only one of said brake levers for pivoting the latter to engage its friction means with one of the faces and for moving said brake support to engage the friction means of the other brake lever with the other of said faces, said support interconnecting said lever means and said other brake lever wherein said support transmits actuating pressure from said lever means to said other brake lever.

9. In a rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck having a wheel and axle assembly, a frame supported thereby, said frame including a transom adjacent and generally parallel to said assembly, a friction disk on the assembly, a brake mechanism on the frame comprising a housing having a flexible connection to the transom, said connection accommodating limited movement between the transom and housing in a direction paralleling the transom, a mounting member pivoted to the housing on an axis extending longitudinally of the truck and perpendicular to said direction, a pair of brake levers pivoted to the mounting member on substantially vertical axes and disposed at opposite sides of said longitudinal axis, said brake levers carrying shoes on adjacent ends thereof embracing and engageable with the disk, an actuating cylinder in the housing engageable with the ends opposite the mentioned ends of said brake levers, a spring interconnecting said brake levers at points adjacent the cylinder, a manual actuating lever carried by said mounting member and pivoted thereto on one of said vertical axes, a lug on said actuating lever engaging one of said brake levers at a point spaced a predetermined distance from its related vertical axis, and an abutment in the mounting member engaging the other of said brake levers at a point spaced from its related vertical axis a distance substantially equal to the rst mentioned distance, said abutment being operative to limit pivotal movement of the other brake lever in one direction, said actuating lever being operative to pivot said one brake lever in a determined direction and bring the carried shoe into engagement with the disk and to cause the housing to move linearly in a direction parallel to the transom, whereby the brake shoe on the other brake lever also engages the disk.

l0. A rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck according to claim 9, wherein the determined direction of movement of said one brake lever and said one direction of limited pivotal movement of the other brake lever are the same.

1l. In a rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a rotatable friction disk having parallel plane faces, a housing positioned adjacent the disk and movable in a direction perpendicular to said faces, a pair of brake levers pivoted to the housing and embracing said faces, friction shoes carried by adjacent ends of the brake levers engageable with the faces, and alternate actuating means comprising an operating cylinder in the housing engageable with the ends opposite the mentioned ends of the brake levers and operative to pivot said brake levers in opposite directions whereby the shoes engage said faces, and lever means operative to move one of said brake levers pivotally toward said disk to arcuately engage one of said shoes with one of said faces and to move the other of said brake levers lineally to lineally engage the other of said shoes with the other of said faces.

l2. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a rotatable friction disk having parallel plane faces, a rigid support positioned adjacent said disk and movable in a direction perpendicular to said faces, a resilient connection between said support and said truck in order to permit said support to move perpendicularly to Said faces, a pair of shoe carrying brake levers carried by the support, at least one of said brake levers being pivotally movable, and a lever means engageable with said support and connected only to said one lever for pivoting the latter to engage its shoe with one of the faces and for moving said support in said direction to engage the shoe of the other lever with the other face, said other lever being engageable with the support at a distance fixed from said one lever.

13. In a brake arrangement, a pair of parallel friction surfaces, friction shoes adjacent and engageable with said surfaces, brake levers carrying the shoes, a movable member supporting a power cylinder operatively :associated with said brake levers for the actuation thereof and carrying the brake levers, one of said brake levers being pivotal about a iirst axis fixed with respect to the member and about a second axis fixed with respect to the carried shoe, a movable actuating lever pivoted to and abutting said one brake lever and operative to pivot same about said first axis and about said second axis, the other of said brake levers being operatively connected to said actuating lever, and means restricting pivotal movement of said other brake lever, whereby said shoes engage said surfaces.

14. In a brake arrangement for a vehicle having a Wheel and axle assembly comprising oppositely facing brake surfaces spaced from each other along the axis of said assembly; the combination of a brake support, means connecting the support to the vehicle for accommodating movement of the support generally parallel to said axis and for restraining movement of said support in response to braking torque, brake levers fulcrumed to the support on axes xed with respect to each other, brake means carried by the levers for decelerating rotation of respective surfaces, an abutment on the support engageable with one of the levers to positively limit pivoting thereof in a direction to release its brake means from the related surfaces, and means for pivoting the other brake lever to engage its brake means with the related surface and thereby move said support parallel to said axis to engage the brake means of said one lever with its related surface.

l5. In a rotor brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a rotatable friction disk having parallel plane faces, a housing positioned adjacent said disk and movable relative thereto, a pair of brake levers pivoted to the housing and extending generally parallel to and embracing said faces, friction shoes carried by adjacent ends of the lever engageable with said faces, an operating cylinder in the housing operatively associated with said brake levers for the actuation thereof, means to restrict the pivotal movement of one of said brake levers, and means operative to pivot the other of said brake levers to bring its shoe into engagement with one of said faces and to move said housing to bring the shoe of said one brake lever into engagement with the other of said faces.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,436,136 Baselt Feb. 17, 1948 2,498,625 Tack Feb. 21, 1950 2,667,946 Helsten Feb. 2, 1954 2,713,400 Coskun July 19, 1955 

